Right, first off, I'll admit that I'm an amateur at this.
I have been a professional woodworker in the past but no way am I a luthier. For this reason (and lack of the correct tools such as a fret-cutting jig) I won't be making the neck.
When the guitar is finished, I have a hope that with perhaps Muttley's help I will make a neck for this instrument sometime in the future.
In my punk covers band (The Shambollix) my no.1 guitar is known as "The Gobshite". Many years ago - almost 30 in fact - I really wanted a Yamaha SG 2000. There was no way I could have afforded one at the time even if one could be tracked down in this country. With the confidence born of youth and ignorance I decided to make a clone. I had no woodwork training but my dad had a shed, and tools, and a big plank of ash. There was also a chunk of old mahogany table top which I glued to the ash plank.
I scaled up the shape of the body from an illustration in a book and sized it according to the Antoria Les Paul copy I owned at the time. I got a local guy to cut out the body for me on his bandsaw and later to drill the bridge and tailpiece holes on his post drill. The rest I did with chisels, surforms, files and sandpaper. I nicked the neck, electronics and hardware from the LP and stuck it in. Miraculously, the bloody thing worked and plays really, really well! It's a beast, though - it weighs 13lbs.
I now need a backup guitar for my band and I decided to make a clone of my clone. This is its story...
